Gyeongju - Day Two

Sunday I woke-up rather early because I wanted to head to the Grotto, which we didn't get to see on Saturday because of our bike ride slowing us down. Mike L. decided to join me for the day, so it was great to have the company. We took the first bus to the grotto, so it wasn't very busy when we got there, which was nice. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the Grotto, which is a GIANT Buddha statue in a cave, surrounded by Gods, Kings, Bodhisattva's, etc carved in stone along the walls. It was absolutely incredible and so beautiful, but since no pictures are allowed, I will just show you the surrounding area.

This pagoda with the bell is at the entrance way of the Grotto. This is a view from the hill the Grotto was on. Bus loads of Scouts showed up for a field trip just as we were leaving the Grotto, so we came and went in perfect timing. A view of the city below. It would have been nicer without so much haze.

Once we finished at the Grotto we took the bus back into the city and headed to the Cheomseongdae Observatory. Along the way we stopped for some snack food because we hadn't eat much for breakfast and didn't know when we would stop for a decent lunch. The walk from the bus stop to the Observatory only took about 10 minutes and the weather was beautiful again, so it was a great walk. We had to pay 500 won to see the Observatory up close, which is really nothing. Cheomseongdae is the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia, and Korean National Treasure #31. It was part of the Silla Kingdom, which reigned for over 1,000 years.

This is Cheomseongdae observatory. Those may look like hills, but they are in fact the tombs of Kings during the Shilla reign. Mike and I came across a tree forest and were told by an ajusshi that it was 1,000 years old. The amazing thing is, it was still growing leaves. There was a Memorial stone inside the forest, dedicated to the dead Kings...I think. This tomb belongs to one of the ruling Kings of the Shilla period. The alter on the left is where the ghost of the King comes to pray and watch over it. On the right is a prayer platform where people can pray to the King.

Next stop was the tomb park tomb. That clearly means there were more Kings tombs to visit.

This is one of the Gyeongju mascots outside the entrance to the tomb park.

There is one Kings tomb you can go inside of and inside there is a replica grave. Unfortunately, this was another spot where pictures were prohibited, so I'm unable to show you how it looked.

The area within the tomb park was beautiful. It was just full of nature and very green grass. I enjoy this picture a lot. The trees canopy the pathway and it's just so full of natural beauty.

When we finished at the tomb park, Mike, Holly and I headed for some Chinese food and then headed to the bus terminal to wait for the rest of the troops before boarding the bus for our 5 hour long bus ride back to Incheon.

Gyeongju - Day One

This past weekend I headed to Gyeongju, the most historic city/town in South Korea, with eleven of my foreign friends. We just wanted a weekend away from Incheon, since we don't get many long weekends or holidays this year. Nicole planned the trip weeks ago because she hadn't been to Gyeongju and wanted to go, so she invited a bunch of us and this past weekend was the weekend we all agreed to go and could all make it. Nicole, Mike L., Andrea, Mike K., Naz, Duncan, Holly, and myself all headed up on the Friday night because we are public school teachers and wanted all day Saturday to tour around. The bus ride to Gyeongju was 5 hours and as soon as we arrived we headed to the hostel to unload or bags and then we picked up some snacks and drinks from the convenience store across the street and had some drinks at the hostel. Saturday was an early start for the six of us who decided to rent bikes for the day. It only cost us 7,000 won to rent the bikes for the day, so we did. We wanted to bike to Bulguksa temple, the oldest and most historical temple in South Korea. We loaded up on some food and water for the ride and headed on our way. Just as we started on our way it decided to rain, however, we got lucky and the rain cleared up instantly and lead to a beautiful day for bike riding. We weren't even an hour into the trek and we were already asking for directions. We asked about 4 different groups of Koreans and they all led us in different directions. Eventually, we pulled over, for the millionth time, and turned around and headed in a different direction.

I got bored with getting lost and stopping all the time to check the map, so I took pictures to pass the time. At least the view was pretty decent.

This eventually led us to the library where a very nice foreign man told us the correct way to go and even mentioned biking by the lake because the view was beautiful. We finally made it to the lake about an hour or so later, at this point my ass was in so much pain I could hardly stand it. It was nice to get off the bike, take a rest and enjoy some lunch.

Here is a view of the lake from our picnic spot. It was such a beautiful day!! Duncan, Nicole, and the two Mike's enjoying their packed lunches. I would like to introduce you to the 'Beast on Wheels,' no explanation is necessary.

When we finished lunch we continued on our way. I was less than thrilled because my ass was in so much pain and we still had to get to the temple and then back to the bike rental shop. We passed by the Gyeongju Cultural Expo and one building had the outline of one the famous temples in it.

This is the building at the Cultural Expo with the temple outlined into it. Probably one of the coolest buildings I've seen in Korea. There were many rice fields we passed during our bike ride. There were amazing and really added to the culture of Gyeongju.

When we finally made it to the temple I was relieved and very excited to get off the bike. We left Duncan and Mike behind at one point because Duncan got a flat tire. They eventually met up with us after we finished touring the temple. The temple was beautiful and still decorated with lanterns celebrating Buddha's birthday at the beginning of May. Plus, spring is such a beautiful time of year in Korea, so it's easier to enjoy things.

My shirt happen to match the lanterns on display at the temple. A beautiful statue in the center of the main temple. I really liked this pond and the beauty it provided, so a picture, with me was necessary. The surrounding temple area was just too beautiful not to enjoy. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and the company was good.

When we finished the temple it was time for the long trek home and I was not looking forward to it. However, the path we took back was far quicker than the one we took to the temple. I think GOD was on my side because Naz ended up getting a flat tire, so he couldn't bike back. I gave him my bike to use to go back and I got a ride with the bike shop man who came to pick the bike up. It really was a blessing in disguise. Once I got back to the hostel I took a shower, changed and waited for everyone to get ready to head out for dinner. At this point, Nick, Carolina, Chris and Nick joined us. We ate dinner at a samgyeopsal restaurant and then everyone except, Naz, Holly, Duncan and I headed to the sauna for a few hours. After ward, everyone drank on the roof of the hostel, while we played drinking games and then we headed to the 'best' nightclub in Gyeongju down the street from our hostel. It was not that great, but we got to dance. Most of us turned in around 3:00 a.m.

Sobriety, Teacher's Day, and More Sobriety!!!

Last week was a busy week. It was my last week with the grade 4's and 5's, so I had at least 4-5 classes a day. Plus, each grade was competing in 'sports competition day.' Since it decided to rain Monday and Tuesday the grade 5's had their sports day moved to Wednesday, which worked in my favor because my classes got switched or canceled for the day. I had to make up the classes throughout the week, but because of time conflicts with the grade 4's I didn't end up having to teach 2 or 3 grade 5 classes. I was really hoping I would have gotten the chance to watch/check out the sports competition day and take some pictures, but I was busy with classes *tears shed*. Friday was teacher's day, so we only worked until 1:00 p.m. and then we got to go home. Basically, teacher's day is dedicated to teacher's, so they are given gifts from current students and old students come visit them and bring them gifts as well. It's really nice to see how much love the Korean teacher's get from their students on teacher's day, since most don't get that kind of love on a regular basis. I actually got a gift from one of my 5th grade students, it wasn't anything fancy, but it's the thought that counts and I will never forget her. I also received socks from the school, just like last year...you can never have too many socks :) After school, Enee and I went to play screen golf. It has been so long since I golfed that it was embarrassing how bad I did. I need to go again and redeem myself. After I parted ways with Enee I came home. I wanted Friday night to be a chill night because I knew Saturday night would be a late one. I ended up heading over to Holly's to hang out with her and Nick later in the evening. We played some Wii and chatted and I turned in around 11:00 p.m. Saturday I was up relatively early because I had quite a bit to do before heading out for Chris's birthday. I headed to Mike and Andrea's for the pre-birthday celebrations around 3:30 p.m. They decided to be the gracious host for the pre-drinking festivities, which was really nice of them. Quite a few people turned out to celebrate Chris's birthday with him. Who knew he had so many friends??...just kidding.

Carolina was the first to arrive then me, so we took pictures. Carolina is very very hung over, possibly still drunk in this picture.Holly, Nick and Kristy showed up to the birthday party. Carolina, Chris, Mike and Andrea (home owners) enjoying the drinks and company. The birthday boy, Chris and his super awesome kids birthday hat I purchased for him.

When we had enough of the drinking games and fun at Mike and Andrea's we headed into Hongdae for dinner and then to a club to see a famous DJ play. I think this is a good part of the blog to let you know that: I WAS DEAD SOBER AND HEADING TO HONGDAE!! We ate the most delicious Koren food I have had the pleasure of enjoying in a while. Paul recomended the restaurant to us and we were not disappointed. They served very thinly/freshly sliced meat and you BBQ it, much the same as galbi, but better.

Just look at the delicousness, your mouth better be watering... Just looking at this meat makes me hungry, keep in mind we cooked it before we ate it...lol!

When we finished dinner we headed to Club Cocoon to buy our tickets to the DJ and then we went to OI bar, which was right beside it to chill out for a bit before the show. We headed back to Cocoon at around midnight and it wasn't very busy, however, we ended up waiting for over 2 hours for Andy C to come on and play his set. Now, keep in mind that I'm dead sober and in Hongdae on a Saturday for one of my closest friends birthday. I ended up having a GREAT time listening and dancing to the DJ's. The highlight of the night was paying 5,000 won (roughly $5 CDN) for a can, yes a can, of Perrier water because they had no regular water and I didn't think to leave and get water at a nearby convenience and then come back. Holly, her friend Camille and I ended up leaving earlier than everyone else. We met up with some friends of Camille's and headed to Garten Bier for a quick drink, a water for me, before calling it a night around 4:30 a.m. I'm honestly amazed I lasted as long as I did in Hongdae dead sober, but I'm very proud of myself. *Now, you may be wondering why I'm not drinking, well, I'm trying to get healthier and lose some weight and I need to start with the main problem...alcohol. I have not had a drink in 10 days and I'm very proud of myself. I'm saving my drinking for my visit to Canada.* Sunday I ended up sleeping until mid-afternoon, so when I did wake-up I headed to the Incheon United soccer game. I decided to walk there since it was a nice day and it's good exercise for me.

The Incheon United Game on a sunny, but chilly Sunday evening. Carolina and I at the soccer game where we were freezing our knickers off. Who knew a scarf in May would be necessary in Korea. This picture was too good to pass up. It turned out Awesome! The fans were showing Incheon pride waving this flag!! Incheon won the game 1-0.

After the game we headed to Yeonsu for dinner and celebrated Chris's birthday some more. We wanted ribs, but the place was closed, so we opted for galbi at the usual restaurant instead. Then we headed to Garten Bier for some drinks and games. Again, I didn't drink, but I still had a good time hanging out with my friends. It just go to shows that alcohol is not necessary to have a good time.

!!3rd Seoul World DJ Festival!!

Last week was a short week because of Children's Day on the Tuesday. It was even shorter week for me because I had no classes on Wednesday, so I just had to teach on Thursday and Friday. Friday night I spent with Holly. We had dinner at the galbi restaurant that I hadn't been to in ages and then we headed back to Holly's and paid some Wii. Then we decided last minute to head to Garten Bier for a drink and ended up staying for about 2 hours just chatting and having a good time. When we finally finished our one drink we parted ways. Saturday was DJ Festival in Seoul. I didn't go to it last year, so I wanted to make sure I went to it this year. Duncan and I met up with Chris, Carolina, Nick and Danny on our way to the Festival. Once we met up with them is about when I started drinking, it was about 2:00 p.m.

Carolina and I on the train anxiously awaiting our arrival in Seoul. The view during the walk to the park where DJ Festival was would have been nice, minus all the construction. We arrived at the Festival and it was not busy at all, but we wanted to take advantage of the wicked weather. That is why we headed there early. Chris and Carolina are excited we have arrived...oh, powerju how I love thee. The happy family enjoying the sunny day outside the DJ Festival...I'm taking the picture. Carolina and I may have had too much exposure to the sun...lol! Chris and I had a mini photo shoot, but without boring you with all those photos, here is the best one. I love my Chris! Danny, Carolina and I are way too adorable for our own good. Duncan put on the red glasses, which meant sexy time. Then it was time to whip out the pink glasses. They DO NOT protect your eyes from the sun, in fact, they block all vision. They are solely for the purpose of taking ridiculous pictures. Chris found a stick in the trees and decided it would be his samuari sword...I definitely woke-up with a bruise on my leg from being hit by it. As the night rolled in the boys decided to spoon with each other...how cute! This was about the time in the night when we were all drunk, got separated from each other and drank some more.

The Festival was a lot of fun, but I don't remember seeing a single DJ because I was too busy drinking, jumping drunk on a trampoline and trying to find people. I did dance with Nick to one DJ at some point in the night. Anyways, around midnight I was getting ridiculously tired and wasn't feeling it anymore, so Danny and I both shared a taxi back to Incheon.

Sunday I was up early to entertain a Korean friend who came to visit after work and then I cleaned my house and relaxed the rest of the day away.

Taiwan: When You're Bored Play...Ki Bi Bo!!

Monday was our last full day in Taipei, so we wanted to make sure we got as much as done as we could. Nicole and I started the morning off by visiting The National Palace Museum. It was a bit of an overcast day, but we rocked T-shirts anyways.

Nicole and I in front of the Museum sans a zoom because it's broken on her camera. Posing all Korean in front of a statue outside the Museum.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so the Museum ones end here. We estimated that we would only need an hour in the Museum and then we would head to the zoo. However, the Museum ended up being absolutely massive and three stories high, so after spending just an hour alone on the first floor, we flew through the second and third and even skipped over stuff.

On our way to the zoo it started rain and we didn't have umbrellas. When we got to the zoo though Nicole decided to buy a bright yellow poncho and I just out on my sweater.

Nicole showing off her bright yellow poncho and attempt at being a lion outside the entrance to the zoo. Black Black Bear, What do you see?? Some Taiwanese Macaques. They were a pleasure to see. We must have hung out for a good 15 minutes watching them play. This sign for the toilets was too hilarious to not take a picture of. We were looking for face masks to wear, but instead stumbled upon these ridiculous animal hats, which we did not purchase, but should have. This is an amazng picture of this monkey that I took. One of them kept making a hilarious sound that Nicole mimicked to taunt it. No zoo would be complete without giraffe's and this zoo had quite a few to offer. Nicole was more interested in the statue animals than the real ones, since we saw more of them than the real deal. In case you are wondering why there are so few hippos in the world, it is because the Taipei zoo has them all...go ahead and count. Like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to the zoo.

Nicole and I wander through a good portion of the zoo and wondered why it was so quiet and why we weren't seeing very many animals. Turns out the zoo closed at 5:00 p.m. and when we actually exited it it was almost 6:00 p.m. That clearly explains why the statue animals were far more appealing.

After the zoo we headed to Zhiangxao Soho deptartment store because we were told there was a great dumplings restaurant there. Apparently, such stars as Brad Pitt, have made appearances there. We were also told the wait to get in was about an hour, so we anticipated that. However, when we arrived we flipped through the menu, ordered the food and were sitted within 15 minutes.

Here is what we ordered. Two different kinds of dumplings, a gluten-free sticky rice wrap and some vegetable-shrimp soup.

It was definitely worth the money we spent and the 15 minute wait...lol!

We couldn't decide what we wanted to do afterward because it was our last night there, so we didn't want to get too drunk because a plane ride hungover would suck. We ended up deciding on the Xiamen night market again. We wanted to try and get to all the bars there before we left Taipei. Considering how many times we went to this area for drinks you'd think we would have taken more pictures, but nope, not until our last night.

Nicole was enjoying her beverage, but she liked mine better.

My drink was really really good, that is why I had three of them :)

We headed back to the hostel eventually because we wanted a relatively early night because we had to leave by 11:00 a.m.

We woke-up early, so that we could head to the airport with plenty of time to enjoy the business lounge. Once we got to Taipei main station we went on a search an airport bus. After walking around in the heat for a good twenty minutes we found a foreigner guy with his Taiwanese friend who gave us directions to the bus depot. Once we finally got there we were offered a great deal on a taxi ride to the airport and it would get us there faster than the bus. Of course, we took them up on the offer because there was much free drinking too be done. We got to the airport around noon, so that gave us 2.5 hours of all we can eat and drink before boarding the plane for more all we can drink. The Taipei aiport business lounge was nicer than the Korean one. It was huge and the food selection was way better.

Me in the business lounge enjoying my free food, free beer and the Boston Red Sox kicking some serious Yankee ass!! Nicole was very excited they served hot dogs in the business lounge. However, she was disappointed in how sweet the bun tasted.

We were one of the last ones to board the plane again, but we managed to make it through the business class doors this time. The plane ride back was awesome, we had our own TV's, loads of leg room and we took advantage of the free booze.

When we landed back in Korea it felt good to be home. The train ride home wasn't that great because it takes about 90 minutes, so the buzz we had from drinking was dying down.

Nicole and I parted ways to go home, shower, change, unpack, etc before we met up again and did some more drinking...Taiwan was a GREAT time and I can't wait for my next vacation.

THE END